Santiago Corrêa is a family physician with a Master’s degree in Medical Science from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and is the founder of ‘Estar ao Seu Lado,’ a project to promote palliative care in primary care. Here, he explains how they helped to mount a public awareness campaign in Brazil.

Dr Santiago Corrêa

Imagine yourself in a situation of extreme misery, next to the municipal dump, without any access to healthcare. Now imagine a person with a hypopharynx tumour who is living in this place with his family. That person happens to come to the attention of a primary healthcare team who support his palliative care needs up until he dies from a haemorrhage a year later. That was the origin of our project, ‘We are by your side – Primary Palliative Care’, one of the first experiences of palliative care in community centres in Brazil. 1

In Brazil, the number of people who need palliative care can reach four million. This requires our action and not just our observation. A system based on hospital care or only on home care cannot meet the demands of the entire population. ²

Thus, we need a change in the Brazilian healthcare system that focuses on palliative care in primary care working out of community centres. Only in this way can we be proactive and meet the diverse needs of people early on in their illness. In Brazil, a community-based approach to care is still in its infancy because we are just starting to think about the experiences of Compassionate Communities. ³ To offer this type of care it’s necessary to provide education and training to the primary care professionals and awareness to the community about death and dying and palliative care.

Promotional materials from the campaign: ‘Three Months about Palliative Care’

To respond to this need, the Brazilian Commission of Primary Palliative Care developed a campaign called ‘Three Months about Palliative Care’. The campaign is based on an online presentation of videos, texts and posters (mainly through our Facebook pages) with various topics about care at the end of life, death and dying. It tries through these tools to spread the message of what palliative care means for the population using simple language. Other activities are being planned up until October 10 and we hope to help the population understand what palliative care is all about.

Raising public awareness at an Estar ao Seu Lado event

October 10 is World Hospice and Palliative Care Day but it should be a lifelong campaign, not just a single day. It is up to every one of us to promote education about palliative care for the population and share the message to build Brazilian primary palliative care as a sustainable and effective model of care. The integration of palliative care at all levels, with the community being part of it, is one of the answers to improve end-of-life care for our citizens.

It’s time to rewrite the history of palliative care. Brazil needs to recognise palliative care as a public health issue (with high costs to the health system to address the high levels of suffering of the patients and their families). Recognising palliative care as a right for all citizens of this country is the beginning of the solution.